Making the most of clothes

"For the apparel oft proclaims the man", is a quote from "Hamlet", and as true today as when Shakespeare first penned it almost 500 years ago. ‘Clothing' is a physical necessity in almost all cultures and climates, and yet what we choose to put on our bodies makes other statements apart from that of sheer practicality – statements about ‘who' we are, what we believe, and what we would like others to think of us.

When we have the freedom to choose what to wear, we can use clothing to express our individuality; to alter or enhance our body shape; to signal our financial status, social ambitions or class origin; to flaunt our sexuality; to reveal our mood or personality type; or to call attention to our religious and cultural preferences.

In the working world, our clothing choices may be limited by what our employer expects from us: for example, a ‘dress code' or uniform shows that we have given up our individual identity to become part of a ‘collective identity': namely, the company we work for. When we step into a uniform, we step into another role, an identity outside of ourselves, in which we express and repress certain parts of our personality in order to enhance the company image. Becoming a small cog in a big wheel has its advantages, though, because a uniform also acts like a shield or barrier, preventing ‘the customer' from getting too close and personal. If anything goes wrong, the uniformed employee knows that the "company" will (or should!) protect him.

When choosing clothing to suit ourselves, apart from fashion style and cut, ‘colour' makes a big impact on what we choose to project. "Colour" is a form of energy created by light, and it affects both our bodies and our minds. Each colour in the spectrum vibrates at its own rate, and tests have shown that colour affects bodily functions. This is because colour affects brain waves and the functions of the autonomic nervous system, which in turn regulates the body's internal environment and hormonal activities.

For example, ‘warm' colours like ‘red' and ‘orange' cause an increase in blood pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate and muscular tension because they vibrate faster, whereas ‘cool' colours such as ‘blue' and ‘purple' vibrate slower, and have the opposite effect. For example, if you put someone in a red room, he/she will become energised, whereas put that same person in a blue or green room, and he/she will become relaxed. Wear a red dress when you are tired, and not only will other people assume that you have energy, but they will become energised in your presence. Also, you will soon feel more energetic because of the faster vibrations of the colour ‘red'. It is no coincidence that flight attendants and bank staff have traditionally worn blue or green uniforms to calm their customer's emotional state and offer the impression of calm, businesslike control!

Our reaction to colour is tied in with our emotions – not our intellect – which is why we use colour to describe how we feel, with expressions like "in the pink", "feeling blue", " a yellow streak", "seeing red" or "looking grey". Different colours have become associated with different personality traits, such as the colour ‘red' with the qualities of passion, dynamism, aggression and drama, and ‘green' with vitality, hope, honesty, and simplicity. Most of the associations we make between colours and their intrinsic meanings are historical, religious and cultural, and buried deep within our collective subconscious.

However, our attraction to a certain colour above all others means that we associate traits connected to that colour with traits that we either possess, or would like to possess. Whichever it is, we can use colour in our clothing to speak volumes about who we are, who we wish to be, or how we hope others will see us. At the same time, we can be either energising or relaxing our bodies and minds – depending, of course, on whether the colour is ‘warm' or ‘cool'.

Donna Dawson